The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 385: Oliver's Possible Whereabouts

Scattered across the second floor of the police station, Lu Li and JoJo were sifting through records and drawers when a sound from the sheriff's office made them both look up.

Peering through the blinds, they saw the man knock over a glass of water, dip a finger into the spill, and begin writing something on the tabletop.

After exchanging a look with JoJo, Lu Li set down the notepad he was holding and entered the office.

“Who are you looking for? Perhaps I can help.”

With trembling fingers, the man finished his sentence, then lifted his head to look at Lu Li.

Lu Li glanced back toward the doorway. Understanding instantly, JoJo retreated to a corner, shielding herself with her fleshy wings.

Closing the door behind him, Lu Li said, “Oliver. He’s not from around here—a guide for the Iva Trading Company. You investigated a case about their missing caravan a while ago.”

“Oliver...” The man paused, his expression thoughtful. “Yes, I’ve seen him before.”

“You found him?”

This was unexpectedly good news. Lu Li had anticipated the search for Oliver would be far more difficult.“Yes, we found him. And I might know where he is now.”

“Where?”

“In the cellar of Murphy’s Restaurant. It’s safe, and there’s plenty of food. The person you’re looking for is there.”

“How do you know he’s there?”

“I just guessed...”

Lu Li studied the man for a few seconds before asking, “How do we get there?”

The man seemed to let out a breath of relief. He lowered his head, his face falling into shadow, and replied, “I’ll guide you. In exchange, you have to get me out of this place...”

“Alright. Get ready. I’ll let my companion know,” Lu Li nodded, then stepped out of the sheriff’s office.

“I have a bad feeling about this... Maybe he just wants to use you to get to that cellar?” Anna whispered in Lu Li’s ear.

“A false lead is better than no lead at all,” Lu Li replied, walking over to where JoJo waited in the corner. The trail had gone cold, leaving them with nothing but blind searching. Whether the information was true or not, they had to investigate.

Walking up to JoJo, Lu Li said, “He might know where Oliver is. We’re going with him.”

JoJo, who was in the middle of removing her wings, froze for a moment. Then she resumed, nodding her head and giving a loud sniffle.

There was nothing to prepare. The moment Lu Li and JoJo finished speaking, the man emerged from the sheriff’s office and walked over to them.

Standing on her toes, JoJo took an old map from the wall and handed it to Lu Li. He spread it out on a table, circled the police station’s location with a pen, then passed the pen to the man.

The man took it, studied the map intently, and circled a spot just west of their position.

Murphy's Restaurant was on Trio Street, less than three hundred meters from the station and right in the heart of the town.

To get there, Lu Li and JoJo would have to venture through the center of the conflict, bringing them dangerously close to the Shadow Swamp.

Once the location was confirmed, Lu Li folded the map and handed it back to JoJo. He then moved to the window, parted the blinds slightly, and peered outside.

The dark red clouds continued to shed their bloody rain. From time to time, the rustle of wings cut through the air, mingling with the faint sounds of doors being forced open on the street below.

The head balloons still drifted below.

Behind the police station lay First Street, a lane of dilapidated wooden houses and an unpaved road. Where Trio Street was wide open, First Street was a derelict maze of narrow alleys and dark corners. It seemed quiet, with almost none of the monstrous servants in sight, but there was no telling how many lurked in the shadows.

Trio Street was the complete opposite. Though the servants roamed there as well, the broad street offered a clear line of sight but very few places to hide.

JoJo agreed with Lu Li’s assessment. The man, however, argued that First Street was safer, but his opinion—born from hiding indoors—carried little weight. Lu Li decided their best route was to cut through an adjacent building and emerge onto Trio Street to reach Murphy's Restaurant.

Anna couldn't reveal herself to the man, so without her help, Lu Li, JoJo, and their guide descended to the first floor. They moved silently through the wreckage and approached a window.

The dark, damp alley connecting Trio Street and First Street was clear of any monstrous silhouettes. Lu Li was about to open the window when the man tugged lightly on his sleeve.

“What are you wearing?” he scribbled on a piece of paper.

“Cloaks,” Lu Li wrote back, taking the pen.

The man didn't believe him. Those strange, grotesque things couldn't be simple cloaks. He was convinced Lu Li and JoJo were wearing some kind of protection.

“Can you give me one?” the man wrote, his eyes fixed on the wings.

“We don't have another.”

“But I'll be...” The man scratched out the words and wrote again. “...the monsters will kill me.”

“If you really need it...” Without finishing the sentence, Lu Li handed the pen back to the man and began to remove his own wings.

“Take mine!” JoJo exclaimed, squeezing between them and shrugging off her wings.

The man’s face lit up, and he reached to put them on. But the moment his fingers touched the slick, cold surface, he snatched his hand back as if burned and recoiled in horror.

“What is this?!”

The pen scratched furiously across the paper. The man flipped the notepad around to show them.

JoJo stepped forward, took the notepad and pen, and wrote, “They're the wings from those things flying in the sky. Do you still want them?”

The man shook his head violently, the look of disgust on his face saying more than words ever could.

Sighing, JoJo put her wings back on.

After that brief incident, Lu Li opened the window, and the three of them slipped out of the quiet safety of the police station. They pressed themselves against the building walls on Trio Street, moving forward in silence.

A scuttling sound...

A six-limbed creature, caked in filth, scurried across Trio Street and vanished into a building with a gaping doorway.

Huddled behind a set of trash cans, the three of them peeked out, then continued on their way.

“We’ve been here before,” Anna whispered to Lu Li a few minutes later, as they neared Murphy's Restaurant.

Lu Li looked up at the sign: “The Great Wave Tavern.”

It was the same tavern where they had stayed on their last visit to Shadowgrad. Now, only darkness filled its windows.

They crept past the tavern and pressed on. A minute later, the three of them reached Murphy's Restaurant.

Ducking into an alley, they scaled a wall one by one and dropped into a muddy backyard. The sharp stench of blood assaulted their senses.

In the corner of a stable stall lay the mangled carcass of a horse.

Ignoring the horse, the man hurried over to a woodpile, pulled a ring on a wooden trapdoor, and revealed the entrance to a cellar.

A wave of blood-scent, even stronger than what was in the yard, billowed up from the cellar. JoJo grimaced and took a step back, pinching her nose beneath her wing.

“The one you’re looking for is down there,” the man wrote in his notepad.

“There are no ghosts down there,” Anna whispered.

Lu Li walked back to the stable, took an oil lamp from a post, and returned to the cellar entrance. He lit the lamp and lowered it into the cold, waiting darkness.